Travel photos, veterinary medicine, Cambodia, pop culture, life in Los Angeles and other things that make up my brain soup.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Canadian Autumn

Autumn is certainly not my favourite season because it means that winter is right around the corner.

Not that I have to worry about snow anymore since I live in Southern California, but I still have those lingering memories of six feet snowdrifts and having to shovel out my car before I was able to drive to university in the morning.

I was blessed to have the chance to travel back to southwestern Ontario last week and experience the beauty of the fall season. I have always said that you have to be away from something before you can truly appreciate it and there is no better example of this than my trip to the family cottage for the Canadian Thanksgiving.

The colours were brilliant at this time of year. I was never into taking pictures of leaves before and yes, it isn't terribly exciting but at least I'm not showing you ALL of the pictures I took.

Here is the family cottage. It is like a tough old lady, braving all the Canadian elements and so far, she is still standing. The bathroom is a little like Quebec in the 80s--it desperately wants to separate from the larger structure--but as of this writing, the cottage with all its parts, is still intact.

The Blue Jay was out and about. Eating the peanuts we fed it. Not sure how the Toronto Blue Jays did this year--I was never really a fan which is probably quite disgraceful since they probably need all the support they can get.

One day, we went to the St. Jacob's Farmer's Market where you could buy massive pots of flowers for $5. That's impressive and before you say that Canadian money is like Monopoly money, I would like to let you know that the Canadian dollar is almost AT PAR with the American dollar. And it briefly went OVER PAR in Europe. So it deserves a little more respect.

And St. Jacob's is the center of the Mennonite community in southwestern Ontario. They are very similar to the Amish--they like their clothes on the black side and they like to farm. They also make great summer sausage and if you have never tried it, you should jump on a plane and get yourself up to Canada to taste some as soon as possible. Hmmm, on second thought, it may not be available right now so you'll have to wait till next year. Oh well.

The Mennonites travel arround in buggies which is a little unfortunate since cars tend to hit them. You see that big triangle on the back? There's a reason for it. Give them the right of way, please! We want them to make more summer sausage!

And here is the famous West Montrose covered bridge. This is what we call a tourist attraction in southwestern Ontario.

It is considered a kissing bridge because you are out of sight as you cross the bridge and can lock lips with your cousin if you so desire.

According to the plaque, it is the last remaining covered bridge in Ontario and was built in 1881.

Lake Belwood is just outside of Fergus which is about an hour outside of Toronto. The lake has many different personalities. At the time this picture was taken, it was in a particularly pensive mood.

There is no denying that winter is on its way.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! For the record, I hate pumpkin pie but I like the idea of it.